Nagafens Lair - GrandmasterJ

 

    This is a map based on Everquest, something I have zero experience with. At the very least the map is dripping in fantasy aesthetic, from the level design to the custom models, the map reminds me of playing Dungeons and Dragons.

SCMapDB page

Author: Sword666

Date of final release: 2021

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Nagafens Lair

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by GrandmasterJ | January 15, 2022 | 4195 characters

    The screenshots for this map look very promising. I had really high hopes for this map and I was disappointed. Now, to be fair, apparently this is the mappers first map. For somebody's first map ever, it could definitely be worse.

    Overall, the map is short. It starts the player off in an area with some NPCs with custom models in a corner that my teammate killed immediately. I don't really know what was going on with those. On the other side of the room are holes with symbols above them. This map is based on Everquest, and I don't know shit about Everquest, but apparently the symbols corresponded with character classes. I jumped into the hole with the sword because I am stupid, my teammate jumped into the hole with a flying helmet he called 'the paladin' because he somehow knew that was the best hole to jump into. I was stuck with a knife (a crowbar) that had some bad animations. I could not change weapon, a message would pop up saying I need to drop my weapon to change weapons. My teammate as the paladin was free to change weapons and even started with a gun. The paladin is best, the last class looked like some wizard class but was actually a useless melee class. ​Play as a paladin.

    After jumping thtough the class-hole players are dropped into a volcano caldera, which would be cool but players are facing the path out of the caldera when they actually need to head deeper inside. On level start and on my respawns I kept trying to walk forward when I needed to turn around and go backwards. Also, there are weapons here which is strange considering the class based decision players make before getting here. Paladins can just pick up the weapons and have the weapons and switch through them freely unlike every other class.

    After going deeper into the volcano there is a maze. This maze is dark and isn't very big but is convoluted enough to trip players up on respawns. Also there are respawning enemies in here.

    After the maze are some corridors with giants in them. The giants look impressive but are completely broken. Both my teammate and I were able to stand right in front of them without being attacked even once. We were melee attacking them but could not seem to hit them. My teammate discovered the hitbox was somewhere in the ankle, I don't know if I ever managed to damage a giant. These giants were just awful.

    At the end players meet Nagafen, whose lair you are in. I noticed a big floating 'map change' in the corner and ran for it. There was a button there and I pressed it, a message popped up saying 'you win, congratulations!' and a map change vote dialogue box popped up. Nagafen then killed both my teammate (who was trying to take it down with melee weapons due to having run out of ammo) and I. We were in the middle of the maze trying to get back to it and kill it when the map ended.

    For somebody's first map, this is great. There are custom enemy models, custom weapon models, an attempt at character classes, and serviceable level design. But the finished product needs a lot of work. The character classes need to be balanced, fixed, and not annoying to use. The dark maze should probably be less convoluted or at least have something inside other than respawning enemies. The map should really end on Nagafen's death instead of pressing a button in the corner. This map has a solid concept and direction but fails to live up to the standards it's visuals would suggest.

Pros:

• Lots of good looking custom models
• It attempts to have a spawn area with character classes
• I'm always appreciative of maps that take place somewhere other than Black Mesa

Cons:

• the paladin character class is broken and superior to any others
• The main area is a maze that is not all that fun to navigate
• the giants were completely broken
• Ending the level is as easy as pressing a button before the boss can get an attack off
• the boss is flying and must be fought with either melee weapons or a pistol with very limited ammo

Score: 4.5 / 10